Thyroid dysfunction: Does it affect the short-term outcome of hepatic failure patients?

Background and aim Thyroid dysregulation is a frequent companion of liver cirrhosis; during liver dysfunction, the levels of thyroid hormones change. The interrelationship of the indispensable organs, thyroid glands, and liver is the most crucial. We aimed to evaluate whether thyroid function is altered in liver cirrhosis and liver cell failure, implicating a relationship between the level of thyroid hormones and the health status of the liver. Patients and methods Ninety patients were involved, including 55 with liver cirrhosis and 35 with liver cell failure, and were assessed by thyroid function tests. Patients were classified according to the Child–Pugh classification. The assisted survival analysis techniques include the Kaplan–Meier, which was conducted to ascertain the survival status in relation to the levels of thyroid hormones of the patients. Results Thyroid dysfunction was more pronounced in patients with liver cell failure compared with those with cirrhosis, with 77.14% of liver cell failure patients reporting elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels compared with 18.18% in the cirrhosis group ( P =0.555). Free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels were significantly reduced in both groups, with 90.91% of cirrhotic patients and 88.57% of liver cell failure patients showing low FT3 ( P =0.001). Free thyroxine (FT4) levels were significantly lower in liver cell failure patients ( P =0.032). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with normal FT4 levels had the highest survival rates ( P =0.008). Conclusion Thyroid dysfunction is common in patients with liver cirrhosis and liver cell failure and is associated with disease severity and poor prognosis.